A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Elisabeth of York
ELISABETH
Of York, daughter of Edward the Fourth and Elisabeth Woodvllle, was born February 11th., 1466. When about ten years old, she was betrothed to Charles, eldest son of Louis the Eleventh of France; but when the time for the marriage approached, the contract was broken by Louis, demanding the heiress of Burgundy in marriage for the dauphin. This so enraged her father, that the agitation is said to have caused his death. After the decease of Edward, Elisabeth shared her mother's trials, and her grief and resentment at the murder of her two young brothers by Richard the Third. She remained with her mother for some time in sanctuary, to escape the cruelty of the king, her uncle; and while there, was betrothed to Henry of Richmond. But in March, 1483, they were obliged to surrender themselves; Elisabeth was separated from her mother, and forced to acknowledge herself the illegitimate child of Edward the Fourth. On the death of Anne, the queen of Richard the Third, it was rumoured that he intended to marry his niece, Elisabeth, which caused, so much excitement in the public mind, that Richard was obliged to disavow the report. Elisabeth herself shewed such an aversion to her uncle, that she was confined in the castle of Sheriff Hutton, in Yorkshire. After the battle of Bosworth, August 22nd., 1485, in which Richard the Third was slain, Henry of Richmond was declared king, under the title of Henry the Seventh; and on January 18th., 1486, he was married to the Princess Elisabeth—thus uniting the houses of York and Lancaster. Elisabeth was the mother of several children; the eldest of whom, Arthur, Prince of Wales, married, in 1501, Katharine of Arragon, afterwards the wife of his younger brother, Henry the Eighth, Arthur dying live months after his marriage. Elisabeth died, February 11th., 1503, a few days after the birth of a daughter. She was a gentle, pious, and well-beloved princess, and deeply lamented by her husband, although his natural reserve led him often to be accused of coldness towards her. She was very beautiful